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Meg Frens Named MATS Committee Chair

Submitted by Karen Bos on Wed, 2009-02-18 09:36

Meg Frens, who is an assistant professor of kinesiology and athletic trainer at HopeCollege, has been appointed chairperson of the Professional Education Committee for the Michigan Athletic Trainers' Society (MATS).

The committee is responsible for providing continuing education opportunities for the athletic trainers in the state of Michigan.

It is the second consecutive appointment of a member of the Hope faculty to the position. Kirk Brumels, who is an associate professor of kinesiology and director of athletic training at Hope, had served in the role since 2006 prior to beginning a two-year term earlier this year as president-elect of the MATS.

Frens, who is a certified member of the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA), has been a member of the Hope faculty since 2002, following a previous two-year appointment as a visiting instructor from 1998 to 2000.

Her publications have included articles in "Athletic Training Today" and the "Journal of Athletic Training," and she has also made numerous invited addresses at professional meetings. Her professional activities also include serving on the NATA Board of Certification Exam Development Committee and on the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers' Association (GLATA) Education Committee, and previous service as an examiner for the NATA Board of Certification and as advisor to the GLATA Student Senate.

Frens graduated from Hope in 1996 with a major in kinesiology, and completed a Master of Science degree in kinesiology/athletic training at Indiana University in 1997. During the 1997-98 school year she as an assistant athletic trainer and co-director of summer camps at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania, and from 2000 to 2002 she was an assistant professor of athletic training at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine.

MATS is a not-for-profit organization formed to assist its members and to educate the public on the role of a certified athletic trainer (ATC) within the health care profession. The society consists of certified athletic trainers, non-certified athletic training students and other health care professionals.

Athletic trainers are allied health care professionals who prevent, manage and rehabilitate injuries in physically active populations. Hope offers a major in athletic training as one of three majors within the department of kinesiology. Hope was the first liberal arts college in Michigan, and is one of only a few institutions in the state, to have its athletic training program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education.